Hindustan Motors launches Ambassador Encore under Rs 5 lakh

The new Ambassador Encore comes with a BS IV-compliant 1.5-litre diesel engine. Heart break for Ambi fans since the car is meant only for the taxi segment

HindustanMotors Ltd. has priced the new Ambassador Encore at Rs. 4.97 lakh (ex-showroom Kolkata) for the ‘no-refusal’ taxi segment. This is the first BS IV-compliant diesel Ambassador and bookings for the same have already begun.

Hindustan Motors’ National Sales Head, Chandan Bose, formally announced the price at a meeting of office-bearers of the state’s different taxi associations. The West Bengal government had recently issued 2,000 permits for the no-refusal taxi segment. Another set of 2,000 similar permits is expected to be released in November. HM expects a good share of sales from these lots. Also, buyers in the replacement taxi segment can avail of a discount in the announced price.

At the launch of the Ambassador Encore Uttam Bose, Managing Director & CEO, Hindustan Motors Ltd., stated, “It is a game-changing offer from HM which has always accorded highest priority to customers’ needs and purchasing power. The company made significant investment in terms of money and man hours to upgrade its BS III 1.5-litre diesel engine to BS IV standards and OBD 2 level. Yet it has chosen not to pass on the expenditure to customers. Through value engineering and cost-efficient manufacturing, HM is able to offer Ambassador Encore at this amazingly low price without any compromise on quality.”

The new Ambassador Encore offers higher power and torque than the previous generation car, better vehicle control with power steering, improved gradient negotiating capacity and overall better driveability with better fuel efficiency. There is now less smoke coming out of the tail pipe thanks to the new BS IV engine.

Ambassador Encore has breathed fresh life into Hindustan Motors as it can now sell the car in the 17 metropolitan cities where earlier the sale of its BS III cars had been banned from April 2010. The company is ramping up production at its Uttarpara plant in Hooghly to meet the demand for the Encore. Several other steps are being taken on the financing, servicing, marketing and other fronts to facilitate transactions for buyers.